SOUTHERN FACES GRAMBLING STATE WITH SWAC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME BERTH AT STAKE IN BAYOU CLASSIC THIS SATURDAY AT 5 P.M. ET ON NBCSN

STAMFORD, Conn. – Nov. 27, 2019 – NBC Sports concludes its 2019 college football coverage this Saturday at 5 p.m. ET on NBCSN with Grambling State (6-4) and Southern University (7-4) facing off in the 46th annual Bayou Classic from Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, La.

For the fourth consecutive season, the winner of the Bayou Classic will determine the SWAC West champion, with the winner advancing to face Alcorn State in the SWAC Championship game next weekend.

This marks the 29th year NBC Sports will present the Bayou Classic. Last year, NBC Sports Group, Grambling State University and Southern University reached an agreement to extend their nearly three-decade partnership for three more years, keeping the annual Bayou Classic on NBCSN through 2021.

Todd Harris will handle play-by-play, and will be joined in the booth by analysts Charles Arbuckle and Anthony Herron. Lewis Johnson will report from the sidelines.

Leading up to the game, the weekend is filled with events celebrating the historic rivalry between the two HBCU schools, highlighted by the Battle of the Bands on Friday night, and performances by the Southern and Grambling State marching bands at halftime.

Legendary Grambling State head coach Eddie Robinson, whose 408 career wins are the third-most by a coach in college football history, will be celebrated throughout the weekend as this year would have been the late coach’s 100th birthday.

Grambling State leads the Bayou Classic rivalry by one game, 23-22, since the series began in 1974.